Two New Operators Open Hunting In Uganda

Published: September - 2008

Last month, I reported that South African businessman Bruce Martin had acquired a hunting quota for the Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve in western Uganda and was expecting his first clients. When I spoke with Martin, he did not have much in the way of details regarding the hunts themselves, as the PH working with him was actually the one organizing them. I now have those details for you, thanks to correspondent Mel Toponce, who is scheduled to hunt with Martin later this fall.

Seems Martin is working with Gavin Godfrey of Botswana. Godfrey has secured a PH's license in Uganda and is operating as Gavin Godfrey Safaris on Lake Albert. When I spoke with him in late-August four clients had already been to the field, including subscriber Steve Kobrine, who killed what may be the new SCI world record Ugandan kob taken with a bow. The kob field-measured 23 inches with 7½-inch bases. (See photo in the Trophy Gallery section of our web site.) He also took a 10½-inch Nile bushbuck, the first taken with a bow, and an oribi. Another Hunting Report subscriber, Greg Williamson, took four kob (three with a bow), a Nile bushbuck, an oribi, warthog and an East African bush duiker.

I spoke with Kobrine after he arrived back home in South Africa, and he reports seeing about 500 kob his first day along with numerous bushbucks. The kob population there is estimated between 5,000 to 6,000 animals, and Kobrine says hunters can expect to look over several hundred rams a day. He reports seeing lots of bushpig, warthogs with tightly curled tusks and plenty of oribi, with six-inchers topping the range in trophy quality. As for Nile bushbuck, Kobrine says a hunter can see up to 15 males a day, with 10 of those qualifying as trophies. He went on to describe the Nile bushbuck there as different from those taken near Lake Mburo National Park, where Ugandan operator Kaka Matama has been hunting. Bushbuck around Lake Albert look like a cross between a harnessed bushbuck and a Chobe bushbuck, featuring one of the........(continued)